Post Blue
by Siren6
Summary: Post 'Enemies', BuffyFaith pairing. One moment of truce between the two.


Post Blue

This fic takes place post 'Enemies' in season three. The song is by Placebo. This is Buffy/Faith story, so if it offends, don't read. Lovely!

_It's in the water, baby._

_It's in the pills that bring you down._

_It's in the water, baby._

_It's in your bag of gold and brown._

Faith watched her from the rooftop of her apartment above the movie theatre. She was alone, like she always was these days. The brunette stopped wondering where the Scoobies had disappeared to, opting to leave Buffy all by her lonesome. It didn't seem important. What was important was where the blonde always went.

She leapt from rooftop to rooftop, the sound of her lithe body cutting through the air inaudible to human ears. She was certain Buffy could hear her, however, yet the older slayer never gave any notice of it. If she didn't hear her or spot her in her peripheral vision, she certainly must have felt her. She must have felt the tightening in her lower stomach, or noticed the way her heart suddenly sped up. Faith knew she did.

When they came to the blonde's usual stop, Faith would crouch down low, barely visible from the ledge. She would watch Buffy stare at the garbage bin, with the blood stains faded down to nothing. The evidence was nearly washed away. The only thing that remained was the older slayer and her remorse.

She would watch Buffy's face go from nuetral to remorse and then painful determination in the space of a few minutes. Faith would give anything to know what the woman was thinking. Was she thinking of Finch? Of course, she had to be. But...was she thinking of her as well? Of what could have been?

_It's in the water, baby._

_It's in your frequency._

_It's in the water, baby._

_It's between you and me._

After stopping by the alley, Buffy would always make a sweep of the cemetary. Faith would descend from the rooftops and stay in the shadows, keeping her distance. She was always far enough away to remain hidden, but close enough to step in if things got to be too dangerous for the blonde. She would never let some low-life vamp kill her. That pleasure would belong to her, and her alone.

Of course, Buffy never needed her assistance. Faith would sit back and watch in silent awe as she dispatched her enemies effortlessly. Her blonde hair flying about her, toned body moving with a deadly grace and precision. This was why Buffy had survived so long. She was flawless. She was _the _slayer. Number one. The best. Faith could never be her, and she knew it.

When she was alone, the witty quips fell away. Buffy was all buisness when she was by herself. Tonight she seemed to be particularly aggressive. She crushed the vamp's nose, then his jaw. She grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him away from her. He crashed through a headstone and tumbled to the ground, shouting in pain. Buffy ignored it and straddled him, her fists a blur as they pummeled his face beyond recognition.

Faith watched the exchange with fascination. Is that what she looked like the first night she and Buffy had gone patrolling? She wondered briefly if she should step in, but decided against it. Buffy was crying now, silently. The brunette could see she was getting tired and silently told her to stake him and be done with it. To her relief, she did, and wiped her face clean of tears, leaving a smear of dust in its place.

_It's in the water, baby._

_It's in the pills that pick you up._

_It's in the water, baby._

_It's in the special way we fuck._

Buffy would go to the Bronze immediately afterward, and Faith would, of course, follow. She watched Buffy shake off her leather jacket (one that Faith had given her for Christmas. One that actually fit her, unlike the one Angel had given her years ago.), and drap it over a chair before heading out to the outskirts of the dance floor.

That night, Buffy was dressed in leather and crushed velvet. She gave a shrug of her shoulders before squaring them and making her way into the mass of people. She would close her eyes for a few moments before giving into the bass and letting herself go. Faith would feel her blood boil at the sight of the men--and women--crowding around her, hoping for her to dance with them.

Her body itched to go out and join her sister-slayer, and she faught with herself over it. Part of her wanted to bash her head in, and the other half wanted to drop to her knees and beg for forgiveness. But Faith was never one or begging. She was one for taking.

She stripped off her own leather jacket and draped it over Buffy's before making her way towards her. She came up behind her and saw that Buffy was already lost in the music. Perfect. Seizing her chance, she wrapped one arm around the blonde's middle and rested the other one on her waist, their hips moving together in perfect synchrasy.

She slid her hands up Buffy's body, delighting in the way the older girl responded. A light sheen of sweat had broken out on her skin, and she seemed especially sensitive to Faith's touch. When Faith's hands met her's, she brushed their fingertips together lightly. She grinned when Buffy latched onto them and brought them back to rest on her stomach. She pressed their bodies together, leaned in closely and whispered, "miss me?"

She jerked away quickly and disappeared in the crowd before Buffy had a chance to turn around. When she did, her green eyes were wide with alarm, anger and--hope? Disappointment? Faith grabbed her coat and slipped it on. It wasn't necessary, though. She felt like her skin was on fire as she made her way back to the rooftops to wait for Buffy to leave.

_It's in the water, baby._

_It's in your family tree._

_It's in the water, baby._

_It's between you and me._

It was another hour before Buffy emerged, and when she did, she looked disappointed. Had she tried to find her? Could she still sense that Faith was near? She followed Buffy home, keeping her distance like always. She peered into the window as she greeted her mother. Joyce was lying down on the couch, a book open in her lap. The dutiful mother had tried to stay up to see that her daughter had gotten home safely.

She watched Buffy drape an afghan over the woman, only to accidently wake her. "Buffy? What time is it? Are you alright?" Buffy smiled softly and nodded. "It's me, it's a little after 3:00 in the morning, and I'm fine." Joyce let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. No sign of Faith tonight?" The blonde's smile faded. "No. Nothing."

"I'm telling you Buffy, that girl is terribly unhappy. I know what she did was wrong, but it just breaks my heart. She's so young..." Buffy stood up. "I know, but it's complicated. I'm...I'm kinda beat though, so I'm gonna turn in. 'Night mom." Joyce nodded, already half-asleep.

_Bite the hand that feeds._

_Tap the vein that bleeds._

_Down on my bended knee._

_I'd break the back of love for you._

_I'd break the back of love for you._

Faith climbed the tree next to Buffy's window and watched her enter her bedroom. She took off the jacket slowly,wincing as she pulled a sore muscle. She pulled out some PJ's as well as a first-aid kit and proceeded to get changed. Faith watched with rapt attention as Buffy exposed herself. Her back was littered with small abrasions and painful bruises. She'd be sore in the morning. She also noticed that her knuckles were open and raw, probably from beating the hell out of that vamp.

After Buffy got changed, she took out a bottle of iodine, a few cotton balls and some bandages and set to work at cleaning and taking care of her hands. It was tedious and painful, but she didn't flinch once. Faith was proud.

When she was finished cleaning them, she struggled with bandaging them. After a few minutes, she sighed and threw the cotton down on the bed. "You know, if you're going to watch me, you could at least help."

Faith smiled from the branch and stepped onto the roof. "If you knew I was watching, why didn't you ask?" Buffy looked up at her, and Faith was taken aback by what she saw. Her green eyes were filled with exhaustion, there were shadows under them, and her face was gaunt. She was running herself into the ground.

"Why so tired, B?" she asked, and picked up the roll of cotton. Buffy looked away. "Between trying to find a way to stop the Ascension, Angel breaking up with me and trying to keep tabs on you, I don't have much time for sleep," she replied bitterly. Faith sat down next to her, toying with the bandages in her hand. "Why keep tabs on me when you know I'm always around?"

"Because I worry about you. About what you might do. You're dangerous."

"I am, aren't I? So what makes you think that I won't take advantage of your condition and kill you right now?"

"Because you won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you."

Buffy looked up at her, eyes wide and sad. "I know _you. _I know you're scared right now. I know that's why you sided with the mayor. I'm sorry that I didn't try harder to help you. I'm sorry for everything, Faith. And I know you blame me for not protecting you from the council, and maybe from yourself. I know part of you hates me. But I also know that part of you doesn't. You could have killed me in my sleep if you wanted to. You don't need an invite to get in. But you haven't."

Faith studied her for a moment, then took her small hands in her own and began to bandage them. "After this moment...when I go back out there, it'll go back to the way it was."

"You'll go back to watching me?"

The brunette smirked, then smiled sadly. "You know what I mean. We'll be enemies again. In the end, one of us will kill the other one." Buffy sniffed lightly. "But...why? Why can't we go back to how we used to be?" Faith shrugged. "We're meant to be opposites, B. Yin and yang. One of us has to be the bad one." She smoothed the bandages with her fingers, savoring the contact, before standing up. "You'll be healed over by morning," she said, and walked over to the window.

"Faith, please." She tensed and turned around, only to find Buffy's face an inch away from her own. She smiled ruefully and caressed the older slayer's cheek. "Want." She placed a finger on Buffy's lower lip. "Take." She leaned in and pressed her lips against the blonde's. She felt Buffy inhale sharplly and lingered a moment before pulling away. "Have." She smiled again. "G'night, B."

She climbed onto the tree branch, and hesitated a moment before turning around to face the stunned Slayer. "By the way...how did you get to be so damn insightful about me?" she asked. Buffy seemed to snap out of her stupor and smiled slightly. "Easy."

"I watched you."

_It's in the water, baby._

_It's in your frequency._

_It's in the water, baby._

_It's between you and me._

_-End-_


End file.
